Ms Kartsounis runs Shoes for Planet Earth, a charity that recycles running shoes to give to people throughout the world.

This week, shoes can be donated to Narromine Shire Council for collection. Shoes can also be donated at any time to Tim Morris Podiatry in Dubbo.

“We try and get the shoes to stay locally and it’s amazing how often people in your community could use with some shoes,” Ms Kartsounis said.

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The shoes are donated to women’s safe houses, homeless centres, churches, disaster relief operations and community groups.

“It’s not just about being homeless or being in a centre. It’s about anyone in need, because we all go through times when it’s tough and we maybe can’t afford something,” Ms Kartsounis said.

The shoes should have no holes in them and be tied together to ensure they stay with their partner.

“We only collect sport shoes because we want to change people’s lives through sport. Also with sports shoes you can go to school, you can go on a job interview, you can do sport,” Ms Kartsounis said.

“Along the way though we do get lots of other shoes. We get high heels, we get thongs, we get all sorts of things. We don’t encourage that but we try and distribute them.”

Shoes for Planet Earth started in 2009. Ms Kartsounis said she now had people throughout Australia collecting shoes and donating them to communities across the world.